Grandmother wants justice for infant grandson's homicide

WORCESTER — Shelly Medeiros said as soon as she heard that her 8-month-old grandson was in the hospital on life-support, she immediately suspected foul play.

She said the preliminary death certificate listed the cause of death of Jay Hudson Bassett, who died Nov. 25, 2012, after being on life-support for three days at UMass Memorial Medical Center, as "unknown."

Ms. Medeiros, 49, who lives in North Attleboro, said family members and even her three best friends since childhood thought she was crazy when she continued to tell them that she believed her grandson was killed. Nobody, she said, wanted to support her in her mission to "get justice" for her grandson.

A death certificate issued and signed on May 22, 2014, by Dr. Henry Nields, listed the cause of death as "blunt trauma to head/neck." The description of how the injury occurred was "blunt trauma inflicted by other (s)."

Ms. Medeiros said even though she had been in touch with Worcester Police Sgt. Mark Richardson and the medical examiner's office almost weekly since her grandson's death, she didn't find out about the official cause of her grandson's death until last month. She said she was sick to her stomach when she read the death certificate.

"I knew that baby was killed. But who wants to be right about that. It was surreal," she said in a telephone interview Friday.

Sgt. Kerry F. Hazelhurst, spokesman for the Worcester Police Department, Friday declined comment other than to say the case is an active homicide investigation.

Ms. Medeiros said her daughter Hailey Corrente Bassett and the baby lived with her until a month before the child's death. She and her grandson, whom she affectionately called Angel, had a close bond. Each day she would play the Beatles' song "Imagine," and hold the baby's face close to hers as she danced. It got to a point that as soon as he heard the song and was in his grandmother's arms, he would touch the side of his face to hers.

She said the baby's father, Marben Santiago, wanted nothing to do with her daughter and grandson until her daughter threatened to make him pay child support. Once when she took the baby to where the father worked, he demanded that she leave the property. He didn't see the baby until he was 5 months old, she said.

For months, Ms. Medeiros said she thought her daughter was working as a waitress in Boston, but she found out that she was actually working at a strip club in Worcester.

The daughter moved out with her baby on Sept. 10. Ms. Medeiros said she was told they were going to live with the baby's paternal grandmother, but actually moved into a house on Richmond Avenue where three other men lived.

Ms. Medeiros said her grandson was gravely injured at the Richmond Avenue home on Nov. 22. She said the baby's father told her that he heard a whimper about 6 a.m., went into the bedroom and picked the baby up and saw that he was blue. The couple allegedly told her that they freaked out and called 911. Ms. Medeiros said there must have been a delay in the 911 call because she found out that the EMS arrived at the house about 8:05 a.m.

"... I want justice for Jay. I want people to know he was a person and he had a right to live. Yesterday, he would have been 2 years and 4 months old," Ms. Medeiros said.

Her daughter allegedly tried to commit suicide twice after the baby's death, according to Ms. Medeiros. She said the couple soon moved to Lakewood, Ohio. They have since had another son, who is now 6 months old.

Ms. Medeiros said she contacted the Department of Children and Family Services in Ohio and told them about the circumstances surrounding the couple's first son. She said she would like to get custody of that grandson.

Mary Louise Madigan, spokeswoman for Cuyahoga County Health and Human Services in Cleveland, said the case is in the special investigation unit.

Contact Elaine Thompson at elaine.thompson@telegram.com. Follow her on Twitter @EThompsonTG